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Sonntag, 30. Oktober 2016

Europeans increasingly wish for childcare at work

The subject
of childcare at work has become increasingly important in recent years. Employers
and employees from different countries report that knowing the own child being cared
for within the premises of the enterprise would be an incredibly relieving
feeling. Additionally, it saves a lot of time not having to drive to the other
end of town to bring their child to childcare and then driving to work
afterwards. According to the recent poll of Jobswype, many more people would
want this.

Even though
childcare at work is not very common in most countries yet, there are some examples
in Sweden, England as well as in the United States proving that it can work out
very well. The investment-banking enterprise “Goldman and Sachs”, situated in
London for instance, created an on-site childcare in 2003. Employees can make
use of it free of charge four weeks after parental leave to facilitate the
transition back to work. Later, they can use the full time on-site childcare
throughout the rest of the year to a certain fixed price.

It is therefore
not surprising that not a single country in our poll was against the
implementation of childcare at work. The share of proponents in all countries
lies between 64 % (Germany) and even 87 % (Hungary).

Of course,
it is also important to note that the implementation of childcare at work must
be well considered and requires not only sufficient financial but also special resources.
But if there is a will on the part of the enterprise, there will always be an
option: smaller enterprises could for instance join together with one or two
other enterprises and form a child care for their employees´ children positioned
between the enterprises, or first only offering a part-time childcare. Some enterprises
for instance allow their employees to bring their children to work, should
anything unpredictable happen or their plans changing unexpectedly.

There are
many possibilities of how a childcare at work could look like and all
enterprises have to make that decision for them. But it is undisputed that
childcare at work is a topic offering good potential for further developments
in the future.